/Veridas joins the AEPD’s Digital Pact

The Spanish Data Protection Agency has promoted the Digital Pact, having the participation of a large number of professional organizations and entities (more than 300!), especially from the technological environment.

The primary purpose of this initiative is to disseminate some guidelines for a respectful online lifestyle, as well as to publicize the existing tools to combat the growing number of digital violence cases of digital violence and the profusion of sexual and violent content that, without the consent of the parties involved, is being shared on the Internet and social networks. In addition to people who act out of ignorance, some carry out these practices under cover of anonymity; although being able to interact in a digital environment under an anonymous profile is entirely legitimate, on certain occasions such as the commission of crimes, it may be necessary to know who is behind it.

In this line, the Charter of Digital Rights includes a right to “pseudonymization”, not “anonymization”; that is, the right to use a public profile different from the real identity, but which, in case of need -and prior judicial resolution-, allows to identify who is behind it. This is something that Veridas has focused on since the beginning, defending the safe use of our real identity both in the physical and digital environment. As seen, facilitating the use of one’s personality to perform identification also promotes security and equality in online social environments, which are becoming increasingly important in our lives.

With these objectives in mind, the entities adhering to the Pact are committed to complying with all the rules related to Data Protection. They have also obliged themselves to implement in their Policies the appropriate measures and procedures to avoid situations of harassment and discrimination, both within the company and in the digital environment, and thus create a culture of compliance in this area. Veridas has been complying with the main data protection obligations prescribed by the Pact since even before the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation, which can be summarized as follows:

• Informing users about the processing of their data and exercising their rights.
• To apply the principles relating to processing.
• To guarantee the lawfulness of the processing.
• Designate a Data Protection Officer.
• Apply privacy “by design and by default”.

Among the tools provided by the AEPD is the Priority Channel, accessible to request the removal of sexual and violent content disseminated without consent on the Internet. Through it, not only the affected persons but also anyone who has knowledge of these facts can report them and start a procedure through which they will try to remove these contents from the network, with the corresponding purge of responsibilities.

Finally, the Pact also proposes a Decalogue of Good Practices in Privacy for Media and Organizations with their own Broadcasting Channels, with guidelines regarding the respect due to the identity of individuals when publishing news or articles, while trying to encourage the birth of initiatives aimed at training the population, and particularly minors, in digital competences. In this sense, the LuzIA Foundation, of which Veridas is a trustee, has created educational materials on the importance of Data Protection in the use and development of new technologies.

To learn more about the Digital Pact, you can access its documentation here (ESP).